


Hop-board

by Slant



Series: Other Fionavars [4]
Category: Mordant's Need - Stephen R. Donaldson, The Fionavar Tapestry - Guy Gavriel Kay
Genre: Chess Metaphors, Metafiction, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 00:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7245226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slant/pseuds/Slant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Mordant's Need (1986) was published two years after The Summer Tree (1984), so maybe this actually was the creation process for King Joyse? It was certainly my experience of reading poor Ailell dan Art, the character that existed so that the succession squabble didn't happen in flashback.</p></blockquote>





	Hop-board

"Ah," said Paul with mordant humour, "In my world we call in hop-board."

"Joyse plays it to demonstrate deep strategic thinking and a (feigned) unworldly nature. You won't be doing that, because our author thought he could slap a strategy game in and call your characterisation "done". In this game strategy consists of forcing your opponent's to attack where you are strong."  
"In Mordant, the king plays it to feign senility, to lure his opponents' to commit to attacking where he is strong. You won't be doing that either. You haven't even worked out that you have an enemy."  
"What I'm saying is, you are making me wish you were written by Donaldson."

**Author's Note:**

> Mordant's Need (1986) was published two years after The Summer Tree (1984), so maybe this actually was the creation process for King Joyse? It was certainly my experience of reading poor Ailell dan Art, the character that existed so that the succession squabble didn't happen in flashback.


End file.
